West Virginia Loses Heartbreaker to No. 4 Texas

The Mountaineers fall at the buzzer to the Longhorns.

No. 14 West Virginia fell 72-70 to No. 4 Texas on Saturday afternoon dropping their record to 9-4 (2-3) on the season.

The Longhorns scored the first four points of the game on a pair of easy layups from Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones. West Virginia's first points of the game came from guard Sean McNeil who buried a three in front of the Texas bench.

Texas had no trouble on the offensive end early on with their first eleven points coming inside the paint including two lobs finished by Jericho Sims and Greg Brown giving the Longhorns a 13-8 lead at the first media timeout.

Taz Sherman provided a spark of the bench for the Mountaineers once again by knocking down a three to tie the game at 13-13. The next trip up the floor, Gabe Osabuohien came away with a steal and gave it up to Sherman who drew the foul and hit both shots from the free-throw line, giving West Virginia its first lead of the day. 

Around the 12-minute mark, both teams began to find their rhythm offensively trading buckets back and forth before the defense started to settle back in during the final four minutes or so of the first half. Emmitt Matthews Jr. gave the Mountaineers a bit of a boost in those final minutes scoring West Virginia's final seven points of the half, including a three from the corner.

West Virginia led Texas 40-36 at the break.

Jalen Bridges grabbed an offensive rebound and converted the putback for the first points of the half for the Mountaineers. 20 seconds later Greg Brown hit a jumper to cut the lead right back to four. After the made shot by Brown, both teams struggled to get anything to fall as they combined for 10 consecutive missed shots. Derek Culver ended that scoreless stretch with a strong layin. 

West Virginia stretched the lead out to nine (51-42) thanks to a made three by Miles McBride and layup by Sean McNeil in transition. Texas cut the lead back down to six, but McNeil got it right back to nine after getting fouled on a three-point shot attempt. He drained all three from the charity stripe to give West Virginia a 54-45 lead. 

The Mountaineers' defense started to get in sync and forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions. The first was a steal by McBride that resulted in a missed three from Sherman, but it was McBride's pressure in the backcourt that forced Matt Coleman III out of bounds. West Virginia had a chance to extend the lead to 11 but a missed backdoor layup turned into a momentum swing for Texas. 

The Longhorns hit five straight shots from the floor and went on a 12-3 run to tie the game up at 57-57 with 8:28 remaining. Sean McNeil ended the Mountaineers' 1/9 scoring drought with a contested three at the top of the key. 

West Virginia held a slim lead in the final minutes of play and couldn't quite get any separation to get a comfortable lead. Emmitt Matthews Jr. attacked the basket and drew a foul which sent him to the line to push the lead to 68-65. Matt Coleman III missed a three on the other end and the Mountaineers capitalized with Taz Sherman hitting a mid-range jumper. Courtney Ramey was fouled on Texas' next possession and cut into the lead once again, 70-67 with a little over one minute to go. Culver had an opportunity to make it a two-score game but couldn't hit the free throw. Courtney Ramey blew right past his defender making it 70-69. West Virginia had a chance to extend their lead at the free-throw line but Emmitt Mattthews Jr. missed both free throws and Andrew Jones drained a three in the corner to win the game for Texas. 

The Mountaineers will be back in action on Monday as they travel to Waco to take on No. 2 Baylor. 

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